A former UC Berkeley employee charged in the killing of a gay Black man in Oakland two years ago has agreed to a plea deal, though it still has to be approved by a judge. The agreement leaves some questions unanswered about what happened when Curtis Marsh was fatally stabbed at his home.
David Briggs, the attorney representing defendant Sweven Waterman, 40, of Oakland, told the Bay Area Reporter that Waterman changed his plea to guilty of voluntary manslaughter in late December in exchange for a sentence of 11 years. An Alameda County Superior Court judge will have the opportunity to accept or reject the plea deal January 31 in Department 11 of the Rene C. Davidson Alameda County Courthouse near Oakland's Lake Merritt.
The Berkeley Scanner first reported the plea deal, which took place December 27 before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Clifford Blakely.
Waterman pleaded guilty to killing Marsh, 53, also of Oakland. Marsh, who was also known as drag artist Touri Monroe, was a hair stylist and a Miss Gay Oakland emeritus who used to sing with the Oakland Gay Men's Chorus. Originally from Iowa, friends described him as fun, helpful, and active in his church.
Briggs had no further comment either on behalf of himself or his client, who is still being held in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.
The B.A.R. left a voicemail message with a spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney's office, which has not been returned as of press time.
As the B.A.R. previously reported, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Rhonda Burgess had ruled June 18 that the prosecution's evidence was compelling enough to have Waterman stand trial after two days of hearing from witnesses for the prosecution. Neither side is contesting that Marsh was killed at his apartment on Vernon Street in the Adams Point neighborhood just before 8 a.m. March 4, 2023.
During the preliminary hearing, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jake O'Malley conceded that "we may never know what events transpired in that apartment." Nevertheless, he alleged that "for the purposes of today ... the defendant was in that apartment when Curtis was killed, and his DNA is on the weapon."
The first to testify was Ariel Butler, one of the Oakland police officers who responded to Marsh's home the morning of March 4. The Oakland Fire Department was on the scene already, he said. (Neighbors had told KTVU-TV last year that the perpetrator set a fire and left the front door and gate open when running away.)
Butler said he'd spoken to a neighbor who "said there'd been multiple domestic violence incidents" in the past at the address. (Hearsay evidence is allowed at preliminary hearings.)
Oakland homicide Detective Kyle Cardana was the next one to testify. Cardana said when he arrived he saw Marsh's body with stab wounds on the balcony of the apartment, as well as a "bent knife on the ground."
"At first glance ... there may have been some blood on the knife," he recalled.
Cardana said that when he walked into the apartment it was "covered in an inch or two inches of water" due to overhead sprinklers, which were no longer on at the time he entered the apartment, though there was still a small fire "near a bar stool."
Cardana said that, initially, Marsh's male domestic partner, whom the B.A.R. is not identifying because he did not testify at the preliminary hearing, was taken into custody. However, the partner showed text messages that proved he was at a friend's house in Emeryville from about 7:15 in the morning until after the time of the killing. He has not been charged.
"We believe the killing occurred between 7:30 and 7:52 hours in the morning," Cardana said.
The partner returned after hearing from another friend that Marsh was injured.
Cardana recalled that a neighbor told him that around 7:30 a.m. "she heard screaming, what appeared to be fighting, and saw Mr. Marsh scream, so she ran to get her cellphone to call 911."
Cardana said that as part of their investigation, police obtained a video showing a man arriving on a Lime scooter that morning after 5:17 a.m. The court viewed the video, and another taken after the time believed to be the time of the killing, showing a man leaving the apartment.
Police obtained a subpoena for financial records from Neutron Holdings Inc., which owns the scooters. It showed a scooter ride in Oakland that started at 5:10 a.m. March 4 and was updated after 5:17 as being paid for by Waterman, Cardana said. After being contacted by police, Waterman gave a swab of his saliva to Oakland police.
Cardana said, "We determined there were at least 1-2 people inside the apartment at the time of the attack."
During cross-examination, Briggs asked, "so, is it possible there were three people in the apartment at the time [Marsh] was attacked?"
Answered Cardana, "That is unknown."
"So it is possible," Briggs asked.
"It could be, yes," Cardana answered.
Angela Freitas, a DNA evidence expert, also testified at the preliminary hearing, saying that Oakland police sent her office several samples, including four different swabs from the knife, as well as a swab of DNA from Waterman.
O'Malley asked what she'd discovered. There was DNA from four people on the knife, she said. One sample showed that it was 660 octillion times more likely DNA came from Waterman and three unknown individuals than if it was from four unknown individuals, she said.
"For reference, an octillion has 27 zeros," she added.
Briggs honed in on the fact that DNA from at least two other people, who were not Waterman or Marsh, was found on the knife, including one that Freitas determined to be from a male who could not be identified using the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, an FBI-run database of the DNA of convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons. Briggs also had Freitas concede it is possible water damage could damage the reliability of the DNA evidence.
O'Malley had the chance to question Freitas again. She testified there is no way to know when DNA was left on any particular item.
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